Microbiological treatment of hazardous wastes has generally been associated with the use of bacteria. During the past decade a significant body of evidence has accumulated that demonstrates that fungi, in particular white-rot fungi, have the ability to degrade a wide range of hazardous organic compounds (xenobiotics) and thus might also be useful for treatment of materials contaminated with these compounds. Our work has focused on the development of a soil remediation technology that is based on the xenobiotic-degrading abilities of these fungi. This work has demonstrated that the technology is useful for remediation of pentachlorophenol-contaminated soils and may also be useful for creosote-contaminated soils. In this presentation the fungi and their xenobiotic-degrading abilities will be described and a summary of applications of this technology to remediation of PCP and creosote-contaminated sites and a discussion of technological developments necessary for commercialization of the technology will be given.

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